—We haven’t had a chance to discuss what is happening. It must be very confusing. Do you understand why it is dangerous for you to live in Afghanistan?

She bit her fingernail, saying nothing. Leo carried on:

—The Soviets fear defeat very much.

—Why?

—They worry it will make them look weak. They are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to stop this from happening. They have many weapons. They will use them, on anyone, men, women, children. The country is not safe, not for you, not for me, not for Nara .

Zabi said:

—Where are we going to live?

—We must find somewhere else.

—Can we live here?

—I don’t think so.

Nara sat beside her.

&md There are many people from our country here. They have lost their homes, their family, just like you and I. They have nothing. They live in refugee camps, thousands sleeping under sheets of plastic with no clean water. It is a hard life. It would be dangerous, perhaps as dangerous as the war itself.

With precocious intelligence, Zabi followed the arguments put to her.

—Where else can we go?

Leo answered:

—There is a chance we can travel to America. Have you heard of this country?

She shook her head.

—It is far away. It is very different from the world you know. It is a place without war, with clean water, with food, somewhere safe, a place where we have a chance. There is no opportunity for us here. We would spend all our time struggling just to survive.

Zabi shrewdly asked:

—What troubles would there be in America?

—There will be challenges. It will be unrecognizable to you. And we will be foreign. We will be outsiders. They speak a different language. You would have to learn a new way of life. But if you manage to learn their language and their way of life, you have a chance of being accepted as one of them.

Zabi asked Nara:

—Are there mountains like here?

Nara was embarrassed. She asked Leo:

—I don’t know. Are there mountains in America? He nodded.

—It is a very large country. There are mountains. There are deserts. There are forests. There are beaches. You can swim in lakes or the sea.

Zabi asked:

—What is the sea?

Not only had she never seen the sea, she had no idea what it was. Leo thought for a moment, comprehending the scale of the journey for this young girl. He wondered how best to explain.

—The sea is an area of water as big as a country. Instead of land there is water, and the water is as deep as the mountains are tall. It is full of animals, like a lake, but some of the animals are very big, as big as this building.

Zabi was amazed by this idea. She exclaimed:

—A fish as big as a building!

—They’re called whales. They’re not fish. They breathe air, like us.